Ministry of Health

MEDIA RELEASE

30 August 2007

EMBARGOED TILL RELEASE AT 1PM 30 August 2007

Wanganui reports released

The Ministry of Health has today released the reports from two reviews related to Whanganui District Health Board and clinical safety at Wanganui Hospital.

The Wanganui Hospital Clinical Review, completed by independent reviewers, found the level of safety is acceptable and compares favourably with other hospitals.

The review was initiated after three highly publicised episodes of patient injury and public allegations of unsafe clinical practice. The reviewers found the three incidents had no similarities and did not reflect a current safety problem.

However, the report says there is room for improvement.

The other report - a joint review, which looked at the overall performance of the organisation - was completed by the Ministry and the district health board and makes a range of recommendations.

The board is working to implement the recommendations from both reviews. A number of the recommendations, which are aimed at improving services and helping the hospital run more efficiently, are included in the board’s Current Annual Plan.

“Many aspects of the board’s performance have not been ideal and that is highlighted in these reports,'' says Dr David Galler, the Ministry's Principal Medical Advisor.

“Clearly there is room for the board to do better and it is encouraging to see that work is underway to ensure that happens.’’

Dr Galler says key themes to emerge from both reviews were the need for process and system improvements - such as greater theatre efficiency and better patient flow through the emergency department; a greater level of input from clinicians into the decision-making process to enable those improvements to happen; and the need for regional collaboration to ensure the future of high quality, long term services for the people of Wanganui.

“Wanganui Hospital has a dedicated and well-qualified medical workforce committed to providing the best care possible to the people of Wanganui. Their expertise and knowledge needs to be recognised and utilised at all levels of governance within the district health board.’’

The clinical review said the hospital, which battles staffing issues, particularly in general surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology, needed to look at new models for delivering secondary services.

A Regional Taskforce for Children's and Women's Health Services has been set up and is already working to develop models of care for the MidCentral and Whanganui areas.

Dr Galler says that with advancing clinical practice no hospital, including Wanganui, can operate in isolation and collaboration is vital to ensure the provision of high quality secondary hospital services in to the future.

“As all hospitals strive for greater levels of clinical safety and financial sustainability both clinicians and the public will have to be prepared to travel more than they have done in the past.”

During the Joint Review process it was recognised that the board was not working effectively. As a result, a board advisor was appointed to support and work with the board to implement the actions recommended in the Joint Review. The advisor has provided an addendum to the review, which indicates positive progress is being made by the board to improve services and help the hospital run more efficiently.

The Ministry will be receiving informal feedback at its monthly meeting with the board and will receive a formal six monthly report on progress made implementing the recommendations from both reviews.

ENDS

For a copy of the reviews please go to: http://www.moh.govt.nz/publicationsbydate

For a copy of the Whanganui District Health Board media release go to: http://www.wdhb.org.nz/wdhb_site/